Review

Finsbury 47Platinum Gin

Distillery

Website

History

Joseph Bishop established the Finsbury
Distillery in 1740. Besides Finsbury Gin it was responsible for making numerous
well-known drinks including Stone’s Ginger Wine. Charles Maxwell of Thames
Distillers is the 8th generation descendent of Joseph Bishop, making
them the oldest unbroken lineage in Gin distillation.

Unfortunately, the Finsbury Distillery
closed and at some point the company was sold. In recent times companies such
as Constellation Europe Ltd have bought it and (we believe) Borco Import GmbH
in Germany has owned it since 1994.

Borco was established in 1948 and is a
family run business. In 1972 they entered into the wine and spirits business,
today marketing over 60 spirit brands and is a leader in Germany, and a major
player in Europe. Their marketing motto for Finsbury is "Originals don't
change".

Production

Kept a closely guarded secret it is made to
a 1740 recipe using neutral grain base spirit (unlike the original Finsbury Gin
which uses a molasses base spirit). It is distilled 6 times, a much smoother
offering than the original Finsbury Gin, and is made in a smaller 3,000-Liter John Dore
copper pot still.

Presented in clear bottle, shaped like a
large hip flask (shallow back to front and wide across) with a silver/grey
label and blue colored writing. It may also be found in a tall clear
rectangular bottle with the same label design. The label has a coat of arms for
the City of London at the top, no doubt in reference to Finsbury (see “Name”
below).

Category

London Dry Gin.

Alcohol By Volume (ABV)

47% (94 Proof).

Price Range

$$$$$ - $$$$$$. Not available in the USA. This
is a little hard to find but is available in Germany and several other European
countries. Try Master of Malt in the UK and prepare to pay an additional 50% for
shipping.

Botanicals

Unknown and kept a close secret.

Name

The name
is no doubt a reference to the London Borough of Finsbury (now part of the
London Borough of Islington), the center of gin industry back in the 1700’s.
The 47 refers to its ABV and the use of the word “Platinum” undoubtedly
highlights its positioning as top of the range for this brand.

Tasting Notes

On the nose is juniper with some herbal,
floral and spicy notes. On the palate this oily smooth spirit has strong pine
(juniper), lemon (citrus and coriander) and earthiness (angelica). On the close
is a dry, slightly bitter, warm pepper and spicy finish with mild perfumed
floral notes.

This is a lovely smooth classic traditional
London Dry Gin and has a certain degree of not unpleasant perfume to it. In a
Gin & Tonic the juniper, citrus and coriander come through strongly. A
Martini is very soft and smooth and the earthy angelica balances well with the
herbal qualities of the Vermouth; it’s even better (and our favorite) in a Dry Martini.

This is an impressive Gin and is very
highly recommended. We’re looking forward to another bottle, to see how it
performs in other cocktails, as unfortunately we enjoyed in so much it was gone
far too quickly!